Digital Room Correction

[Macspur]

Has anyone any experience of this product, or something similar?
http://www.dspeaker.com/
Seems like it may be a cure for boomy base,, but would it have an adverse affect in the overall sonics of ones set up?
Mac

 

[Frank Harvey]

Yes, I have used one at home on my subwoofer. I did mean to try it out full range with my front pair but I didn't get a chance to. I also want to try it out full range on our main system using the KEF Blades - I'm assuming that if it has any negative effects, they'll reveal them.

Russ Williams over on AVF reviewed it and gave it Reference Status.

 

[Macspur]

Yes, I have used one at home on my subwoofer. I did mean to try it out full range with my front pair but I didn't get a chance to. I also want to try it out full range on our main system using the KEF Blades - I'm assuming that if it has any negative effects, they'll reveal them.

Russ Williams over on AVF reviewed it and gave it Reference Status.

Hi David,

Did you find it effective with regards to the sub?

I am going to try and get a home demo next week.

Mac

 

[Neuphonix]

Hi Mac,

I'd be really interested to hear how this goes for you. You'd have to think that it will have a much greater impact on your boomy bass issue than cables?

Did you end up trying those isolation stands Cno was talking about?

As you know I'm going through the process of try to integrate my subs. The Bryston crossover that I recently acquired has an alarming hum when I place it in the chain, so it needs to be looked at again by the tech before I can really test it. Think it must be something to do with the voltage change over.

I am looking at a second hand Velodyne SMS-1 sub parametric equalizer, if I can get it cheap eough it might be fun to play around with.

The other option I had read up on (apart from the Anitmode) was the Audessy.

Rives Parc & Lygdorf do review well, but really too expensive & i doubt I'd be able to try before I buy over here.

Let us know how it goes, hope you get the result you're after.

 

[Macspur]

Hi Mac,

I'd be really interested to hear how this goes for you. You'd have to think that it will have a much greater impact on your boomy bass issue than cables?

Did you end up trying those isolation stands Cno was talking about?

As you know I'm going through the process of try to integrate my subs. The Bryston crossover that I recently acquired has an alarming hum when I place it in the chain, so it needs to be looked at again by the tech before I can really test it. Think it must be something to do with the voltage change over.

I am looking at a second hand Velodyne SMS-1 sub parametric equalizer, if I can get it cheap eough it might be fun to play around with.

The other option I had read up on (apart from the Anitmode) was the Audessy.

Rives Parc & Lygdorf do review well, but really too expensive & i doubt I'd be able to try before I buy over here.

Let us know how it goes, hope you get the result you're after.

Hi,

Yes, I've realised now to really hear the most benefit from any cable change, I need to tame this base issue.

I haven't tried the Track Audio stands and to be honest if this Antimode works, it would be a cheaper option.

The Analysis plus big silver oval SC's and jumpers plus the Black Ravioli big feet certainly did tighten things up and made a great improvement to the overall soundstage but, didn't eliminate the boomyness problem altogether.

If I manage to get a home demo, I'll certainly report back.

Good luck with your sub trials too.

Mac

 

[Neuphonix]

Will be interesting to see if you lose something at the same time as gaining something? Does it sacrifice something at the top while it is EQing the bottom?

I've never had the opportunity to try a high end EQ system. The cheap ones that I have tried never impressed much. I always seemed to find that they served more to highlight the differences in recordings. You set it up so it sounds great on one CD & then it makes another sound ordinary.

I'm pretty sure this was as much user error as the device, but would be interested to see if anyone with more experience in this area has any feedback or suggestions.

Did read your Ravioli thread, but was too scary for me to get involved in!!! 🙂

 

[CnoEvil]

Did read your Ravioli thread, but was too scary for me to get involved in!!! 🙂

Tell me about it......you'd think I'd know better by now, having got sucked into a couple of similar ones! :doh:

 

[Macspur]

Will be interesting to see if you lose something at the same time as gaining something? Does it sacrifice something at the top while it is EQing the bottom?

I've never had the opportunity to try a high end EQ system. The cheap ones that I have tried never impressed much. I always seemed to find that they served more to highlight the differences in recordings. You set it up so it sounds great on one CD & then it makes another sound ordinary.

I'm pretty sure this was as much user error as the device, but would be interested to see if anyone with more experience in this area has any feedback or suggestions.

Did read your Ravioli thread, but was too scary for me to get involved in!!! 🙂

Hmmm, was a bit sorry I started that post in the end.

You echo my concerns re the Antimode, but it certainly gets rave reviews and no mention of losing anything, so we will see.

Mac

 

[Frank Harvey]

Hi David,

Did you find it effective with regards to the sub?

I am going to try and get a home demo next week.

Mac

I thought my sub sounded fine before it, which if I'm honest, it did. I think because it doesn't draw attention to itself I felt that the EQ wouldn't really have much effect. Wrong! While the sub doesn't reach any deeper with or without EQ, it sounds deeper with EQ because without it you are setting the sub's level based on the peaks in the response - so if you have a peak of 12dB at say 50Hz, you set the sub level based on that 12dB peak, so instantly, most other frequencies are 12dB down, which is noticeably quieter. So instead of the room issues masking the lower capabilities of the sub, you're suddenly hearing everything the sub is capable of doing, rather than a fraction of what it can do. I liken it to comparing a singer trying to sing with a cold and sinus problems to one who does not.

As soon as I have paid off the excesses of my movie and music purchases from December, I'll be adding one to my system 🙂

 

[Macspur]

Hi David,

Did you find it effective with regards to the sub?

I am going to try and get a home demo next week.

Mac

I thought my sub sounded fine before it, which if I'm honest, it did. I think because it doesn't draw attention to itself I felt that the EQ wouldn't really have much effect. Wrong! While the sub doesn't reach any deeper with or without EQ, it sounds deeper with EQ because without it you are setting the sub's level based on the peaks in the response - so if you have a peak of 12dB at say 50Hz, you set the sub level based on that 12dB peak, so instantly, most other frequencies are 12dB down, which is noticeably quieter. So instead of the room issues masking the lower capabilities of the sub, you're suddenly hearing everything the sub is capable of doing, rather than a fraction of what it can do. I liken it to comparing a singer trying to sing with a cold and sinus problems to one who does not.

As soon as I have paid off the excesses of my movie and music purchases from December, I'll be adding one to my system 🙂

Excellent David, thank you.

Mac

 

[andyjm]

Room acoustics have more effect on experienced sound than any other parameter. The smaller the room, the worse the effect at low frequency.

i have been surprised at the slow take up of room equalisation. It is commonplace in pro setups. I have been a convert for many years. For those still plugging away with squeezebox streamers, there was an excellent free add in 'inguz' that allowed full DSP room correction to be done. Effectively taking the in room frequency response and inverting it to obtain a flat response to the listener. Inguz isn't supported anymore, and of course squeeze is dead.

if you want to explore the subject further google 'room equalisation wizard' a free download app that gives you all the tools you need to analyse room performance. It also prepares filter and impulse files for a range of eq boxes.

You need a measurement mic - behringer do an excellent mic at very reasonable cost. I will try to dig out the details if you are interested.

You can't fill in nulls, but smoothing out peaks - particularly below 500Hz can change a boomy bass response into something very taught.

edit: It's the Behringer ECM8000 measurement mic. 40 quid. Like most pro mics, it's phantom powered, so you need a cheapo mixer to power it. Behringer sell an excellent range of mixers sub 100 quid. I would definitely recommend it.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I would say that careful room placement should be exercised first before resorting to room EQ. Doing as much as you can to get the basics right means that less EQ'ing should be needed, although you won't be able to remove room modes with speaker or sub placement. I feel that EQ'ing higher frequencies should ideally be avoided for many reasons - the lower the frequency, the more need for EQ.

 

[Neuphonix]

Hey Mac,

any progress on organising a home demo on this unit yet?

Question also for David if he catches this;

I finally got around to running the ARO room correction set-up on my JL subs over the weekend. Wow, what a difference, much much better definition, wish I had done it earlier.

Given that my subs have a built in EQ feature do you think that the anti-mode is really needed? Or would it just perform much the same function.

I'm pretty keen to give it a try but don't really want to spend the money if it is just going to duplicate what I already have.

 

[Macspur]

Hey Mac,

any progress on organising a home demo on this unit yet?

Question also for David if he catches this;

I finally got around to running the ARO room correction set-up on my JL subs over the weekend. Wow, what a difference, much much better definition, wish I had done it earlier.

Given that my subs have a built in EQ feature do you think that the anti-mode is really needed? Or would it just perform much the same function.

I'm pretty keen to give it a try but don't really want to spend the money if it is just going to duplicate what I already have.

No sorry mate... couldn't find anyone prepared to come and set it up for me so far... got 1 more place to try.

To be honest though, had my eye taken off the ball lately, as found an Accuphase amp that I'm quite keen to try... too many balls in the air, probably end up dropping them all!

Mac

 

[Frank Harvey]

Given that my subs have a built in EQ feature do you think that the anti-mode is really needed? Or would it just perform much the same function.

I'm pretty keen to give it a try but don't really want to spend the money if it is just going to duplicate what I already have.

I don't know how good the EQ you have in your subs is, so can't really comment. The Dual Core EQ's down to 16Hz and does it well, so if you can find out how low the ARO will do and if there's been any reviews on it's abilities, you may be in a better position to see which will give you greater benefits. On a basic level though, you don't need the Dual Core.

 

[Neuphonix]

Thanks David,

thats sort of what I was thinking. I was really surprised at the improvement the ARO on the fathoms made. While it is not as interactive as the Dual Core it does seem to do a pretty good job. Good enough for me to put the dual core on the back burner for a while.

Hard to find opportunities to home demo nich products like the dual core down here in OZ.

Thanks again.

 

[Neuphonix]

Hey Mac,

any progress on organising a home demo on this unit yet?

Question also for David if he catches this;

I finally got around to running the ARO room correction set-up on my JL subs over the weekend. Wow, what a difference, much much better definition, wish I had done it earlier.

Given that my subs have a built in EQ feature do you think that the anti-mode is really needed? Or would it just perform much the same function.

I'm pretty keen to give it a try but don't really want to spend the money if it is just going to duplicate what I already have.

No sorry mate... couldn't find anyone prepared to come and set it up for me so far... got 1 more place to try.

To be honest though, had my eye taken off the ball lately, as found an Accuphase amp that I'm quite keen to try... too many balls in the air, probably end up dropping them all!

Mac

Really? You're looking at changing your Sudgen?

That is a lot of balls!! Should we roll out the organ grinder for you?! 😉

Let us know how you go.